What Is Hormonal Acne And How To Get Rid Forever

 

hormonal acne and how to get rid forever

Acne

Acne is a product of oil and dead skin cell buildup overrated with bacteria over days before it got red and inflamed. Acne is an inflamed skin disorder.  

Inflamed skin is related to excess sebum produced by oil glands. For your information, each skin pore has a follicle that consists of hair and oil glands or sebaceous glands. Sebaceous glands will produce oil to nourish and moisture the skin. 

But somehow, people who lack moisture in their skin will stimulate the oil glands to produce more oil or sebum. 

The extra oil that the sebaceous glands produce tends to be stickier. And due to this, the oil will trigger clog pores and trap the dirt. 

Since the cause of acne is the blockage of the hair follicles by oil, dirt, and dead skin cells, this skin disorder doesn't transmit to other people. 

What Is Hormonal Acne And How To Get Rid Forever

Many things can trigger acne. The most common things are caused by poor diet, hygiene, and hormonal problems. However, the treatment to get rid of acne may vary depending on the cause of acne.

What Is Hormonal Acne

If you wondering what hormonal acne is, then here is the answer. Hormonal acne is caused by the fluctuations and hormonal changes inside your body. 

Hormonal acne is common during menstruation, puberty, pregnancy, and menopause.

Acne that occurs due to hormonal problems is more difficult to treat, and to be honest, it needs special treatment. 

You can't simply use any topical over-the-counter medication. Many people try to deal with this type of acne by using prescription medication and implementing a healthy lifestyle.

When a person starts to experience puberty, it usually is the time they start to experience hormonal acne. The acne will pop up on their face or other body parts. 

The increase of Testosterone hormones during puberty will affect sebaceous glands to produce more sebum or oil than usual. 

This sudden activity will trigger hormonal acne to occur. In addition, according to research, women are more prone to hormonal acne. 

What Causes Hormonal Acne

As we mentioned earlier before, the causes of hormonal acne are the fluctuations and hormonal changes inside your body. Some certain conditions will trigger hormone problems, such as:

• Puberty

When teenagers start entering puberty, their androgen hormones level will increase. Increasing this hormone will occur in both girls and boys. The increase has the purpose of strengthening the bones and muscles. 

This condition will affect the oil glands to produce more sebum, the natural oils your skin produces. Due to this activity, teenagers are prone to hormonal acne.

• Menstruation

One of the most common causes of hormonal acne is menstruation. A few days before the menstrual cycle arrives, hormones will fluctuate. 

The level of progesterone and estrogen hormones will decrease, but the level of testosterone hormones remains the same, which causes this testosterone hormone to become more dominant.

The hormone changes will stimulate the oil glands to produce more oil. The oil produced during this period usually has the characteristic of tending to be thicker than normal sebum. As a result, the oil will clog your skin pores and cause acne. 

Due to this, women who experience PMS or Premenstrual Syndrome will likely develop more acne on their skin, especially on their chin, nose, and jawline area.

• PCOS

Another common cause of hormonal acne is PCOS. PCOS or Polycystic Ovary Syndrome is a hormonal disorder that often occurs when women are still in their productive years.

During this condition, the androgen hormones level increases and prevent the production of estrogen and progesterone hormones in the body.

Women with PCOS often experience an irregular menstrual cycle, weight gain, thinning hair, difficulties in pregnancy, and oily skin. 

Oily skin happens due to the lower amount of estrogen and progesterone, which messes up the signal of oil glands to produce more sebum or natural skin oil.

Once again, the excess sebum production tends to be thicker, which can lead to clog pores and trigger hormonal acne breakout.

• Menopause

Women who begin to experience menopause, they start to experience hormonal changes in their bodies. The estrogen hormone level will start to decrease, and the androgen hormones will increase. This situation causes hormonal imbalance, and it can trigger hormonal acne.

Common signs of women who start to experience menopause are irritability, night sweat, hot flushes, mood swing, vaginal dryness, irregular periods, and sleep problems. Implementing a healthy lifestyle by eating more nutritious foods will help to ease all the above symptoms.

• Stress

Another cause of hormonal acne is stress. People who go under severe stress it's likely to develop hormonal acne. This is because Cortisol, a hormone that controls stress levels in the body, will also affect the other acne-causing hormones to produce more oil.

Once your skin produces more oil, you must deal with oily skin. Oily skin will trigger comedones and acne.

What Does Hormonal Acne Look Like

Being able to spot between acne caused by bad hygiene and acne caused by hormonal can be pretty challenging. However, you can try to distinguish the difference by learning the symptoms of hormonal acne.

Symptoms Of Hormonal Acne

• Acne due to hormonal problems is located deep under the skin surfaces, creating lumps that feel tender when you touch them. The lumps are often called cystic acne. This type of acne is very painful. 
• Hormonal acne will appear for the first time during puberty, usually when teenagers reach 13 - 17 years old. The characteristic of hormonal acne due to puberty is that they usually grow around the T-area, such as the forehead, nose, and chin.
• Your acne will regularly appear when you are about to get your period (menstrual cycle), during your period or after you finish the period. The acne can appear mostly on your chin, jawline, cheek, and nose.
• Women who previously seldom got acne suddenly experienced severe breakouts during pregnancy. The hormonal acne in pregnant women did not limit to certain areas. Instead, it can grow in every part of their skin face.

How To Control Hormonal Acne

Many people struggle with hormonal acne, and this acne is unavoidable. They must deal with red, big, and painful lumps, affecting their mental health. However, even though this acne is unavoidable, you can still try to control hormonal acne by following these tips.

• Always get enough sleep.
• Reduce your stress by doing meditation, traveling, exercise, jogging, or any other hobbies you like.
• Always double cleanse your skin before going to sleep
• Never ever wear your make-up if you want to go to your bed
• Choose skincare products that are hypoallergenic and won't clog your pores
• Use skin care products that contain active ingredients such as niacinamide, salicylic acid, azelaic acid, and retinoids
• Use your skincare product in the right amount, don't use too much or too little
• Always wear your sunscreen during the day, minimum SPF30
• For persistent acne, please discuss with your dermatologist

How To Get Rid of Hormonal Acne

Treating hormonal acne can be very tricky. The treatment for getting rid of hormonal acne needs to be adjusted following the severity of the acne. Therefore, getting advice from your dermatologist is important.

Below is the common prescription used by doctors to treat hormonal acne.

1. Topical Acne Medication

Topical acne medication is often used to treat mild hormonal acne. There are many types of topical acne medication, but here are some topical medications that have proven to be effective in treating hormonal acne,

Retinoids

Retinoids are vitamin A derivatives that work wonders to combat hormonal acne. Not only that, but retinoids are also great for preventing hyperpigmentation and sign of premature aging. If you have mild acne, you can try to get rid by using this low concentrate of this topical treatment.

However, if you have severe hormonal acne, the doctor will prescribe you a higher concentration of retinoids. Many reports say that high concentrations of retinoids are proven effective in getting rid of hormonal acne.

If you want to use retinoids as your hormonal acne treatment, please do not forget to wear sunscreen daily as part of your skincare routine. Retinoids will increase your skin sensitivity to sun exposure.

Azelaic Acid

Another great topical treatment that you can use is azelaic acid. Azelaic acid is a milder active ingredient compared to retinoids. It is even suitable for sensitive skin. 

Azelaic acid is proven to improve your appearance by brightening your skin, preventing hyperpigmentation, reducing signs of premature aging, and getting rid of hormonal acne.

Azelaic acid has anti-inflammatory properties, which are beneficial in combatting hormonal acne and reducing the dark spot and acne scars.

Benzoyl Peroxide

One of the most common topical treatments for hormonal acne is benzoyl peroxide. These active ingredients are easy to find and almost ready everywhere. It is excellent to get rid of comedones, normal acne, and hormonal acne.

However, this topical treatment can cause side effects such as skin dryness, itchy, red, and irritation.

Salicylic Acid

Salicylic acid is one of the holy grail topical treatments that many people love. Salicylic acid help to open your pores, and at the same time, it helps to calm your inflamed skin. Using salicylic acid regularly is proven to reduce comedones and acne.

2. Steroid Injection

In some cases, steroid injections are needed to stop the hormonal acne breakout. These medical procedures only can be done by a professional or dermatologist.

Steroid injection means the dermatologist injects triamcinolone, a type of corticosteroid, directly into your acne. This medical procedure aims to eliminate hormonal acne without leaving any scars.

3. Antibiotic Drugs

The doctor will give antibiotic drugs if your hormonal acne doesn't get any better after using the topical medication. Antibiotic drugs usually have 2 forms, topical medication and oral medication.

This type of medication is very effective in eliminating acne-causing bacteria, reducing inflammation, and helping your skin to heal faster.

Here are some antibiotics that are often prescribed by doctors,

Isotretinoin

Isotretinoin is often used as a last chance to treat hormonal acne due to the side effect that can occur while using this procedure.

Women planning on pregnancy are not amicable to use this drug due to the side effect that can harm the fetus. In addition, using this drug will also lead to nausea, hair loss, and loss of appetite.

Isotretinoin is a very strong vitamin A derivative, and it's very potent to treat cystic acne caused by hormonal acne. Please discuss with your doctor if you want to use this medication.

Doxycycline

This doxycycline is the most common antibiotic prescribed by doctors. This antibiotic is safe. It has anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial properties.

These properties are important to treat acne symptoms such as redness, pain, and swelling. In addition, doxycycline will also reduce the risk of getting breakout in the future. 

Besides doxycycline, there is Minocycline, another safest antibiotic that is often used to treat acne. Minocycline antibiotic works are similar to doxycycline.

4. Hormone Therapy

The doctor will suggest hormone therapy if the other acne medication is ineffective in removing hormonal acne. Hormone therapy works by controlling the androgen hormone production in the body.

However, hormone therapy to treat your hormonal acne also has some side effects. Therefore, you better discuss it with your doctor before using this option to treat your hormonal acne.

5. Antiandrogens Treatment

Another option to treat hormonal acne is using antiandrogens treatment. This treatment works by lowering the presence of androgens hormones in the body. 

Androgen hormones are found in both male and female bodies at a balanced level.

Too much androgen level in the body will cause an increase in oil or sebum production. And unfortunately, this activity will cause the skin to become oily and easily trigger acne. 

In addition, it also affects hair follicles which play an important role in controlling skin cells.

The common drug that has antiandrogen effects is spironolactone. Spironolactone is a drug that use to control high blood pressure.

However, they discovered that this drug is also effective in stabilizing hormone levels and preventing excess androgen hormone production.

6. Oral Contraceptives

Oral contraceptives become another option to treat painful cystic acne caused by hormonal acne. Cystic acne is a bump that forms under the deep skin layer, which is often difficult to treat using over-the-counter acne treatment.

The oral contraceptives prescribed by doctors generally contain Ethinyl estradiol and are often combined with other drugs such as norgestimate, norethindrone, or drospirenone. The combination of those contraceptives is effective in preventing hormonal acne breakout.

Even though oral contraceptives are effective in treating hormonal acne, women with a history of smoking cigarettes, breast cancer, blood clots, and high blood pressure are not recommended to use this medication. Using this medication can cause fatal risks due to blood flow problems.

How To Treat Hormonal Acne Naturally

Even though hormonal acne is difficult to treat, but doesn't mean you can't treat this type of acne using natural ways. The key to dealing with this stubborn cystic acne is simply to change your daily habits. 

Please remember that your gut is the source of everything. Therefore, be cautious with your daily habits. It will help you to improve your skin condition. Below are some tips on how to treat hormonal acne naturally.

• Eat more vegetables and fruits. They're rich in vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.
• Eat more sea fish such as salmon, capelin, mackerel, and sardines. They're rich in omega-3
• Consume omega-3 supplements. It will prevent inflammation
• Consume zinc supplement. It helps to regulate your oil glands 
• Eat more foods that contain probiotics. It helps your gut to stay healthy
• Always get enough sleep, at least 7-9 hours every day,
• Avoid staying up until late at night. It can cause inflammation in your body
• Avoid drinking alcohol. It worsens your skin condition
• Avoid sugary foods. They can trigger excess oil production and cause severe cystic acne
• Avoid junk food. It will not only disrupt your body's health but also your skin
• Drink more water. It helps to keep your skin stay hydrated and moist
• Exercise regularly. It will regulate your blood sugar level and combatting breakout

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